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Designating Physical Education as a Core Subject
Recommendation 3: Because physical education is foundational for 
lifelong health and learning, the U.S. Department of Education should 
designate physical education as a core subject.
Rationale
Physical education in school is the only sure opportunity for all school-
aged children to access health-enhancing physical activity and the only 
school subject area that provides education to ensure that students develop 
the knowledge, skills, and motivation to engage in health-enhancing physi-
cal activity for life. Yet states vary greatly in their mandates with respect to 
time allocated for and access to physical education. Nearly half (44 percent) 
of school administrators report having cut significant time from physical 
education and recess to increase time devoted to reading and mathematics 
since the No Child Left Behind Act became law, which made federal funding 
dependent on schools’ making adequate progress in the latter subject areas. 
Moreover, disparities have been documented in access to physical education 
for students of Hispanic ethnicity and lower socioeconomic status. 
Currently, despite growing concern about the negative consequences 
of physical inactivity, physical education is not considered or treated as 
a core subject. Several national studies and reports have pointed to the 
importance of implementing state laws and regulations mandating both 
time requirements for physical education and monitoring of compliance 
with those requirements. Although a number of national governmental, 
non governmental, private industry, and public health organizations and 
agencies have offered specific recommendations for the number of days 
and minutes per day of physical education, no standardized state policy 
has emerged. As a core academic subject, physical education would receive 
much-needed policy attention that would enhance its overall quality in 
terms of content offerings, instruction, and accountability. The enactment 
of this recommendation also would likely result in downstream account-
ability that would assist in policy implementation.
Potential Actions
For the U.S. Department of Education and federal and state public 
health agencies, potential actions to implement this recommendation 
include
•
finding innovative applications of physical education as a core sub-
ject in sample states or districts to highlight and measure outcomes.

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
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